Apparatus for drilling oil wells



July 7, 925. 1,544,829

- J. D. GIBBS APPARATUS FOR DRILLING OIL WELLS Filed D '7, 1921 5Sheets-Sheet l Qua cur,

July 7, 1 925.

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1,544,829 J. D. GIBBS APPARATUS FOR DRILLING OIL WELLS Filed Dec. 1921v5 sheets-sheet 4 I gnbenfpz I James 6'0 s a5 M144; W

July 7, 1925. 1,544,829

J. D. GIBBS APPARATUS FOR DRILLING OIL WELLS Filed Dec. 7, 1921 5Sheets-Sheet s Q I, O

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Wriness M Quorum arated as to require the Patented July 7, 1925, i f,

JAMES n. GIBBS, or LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

APPARATUS FOR DRILLING OIL WELLS.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, JAMES D. GIBBS, a

Y citizen of the United States, and a resident of Louisville, in thecounty of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Apparatus for Drilling Oil ells, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for use in thedrilling of oil wells and concerns particularly the arrangement of andmechanism for controlling the winding drums'or reels used for the drill,sand and casing lines respectively.

Heretofore the several. mechanical parts have been distributed aroundthe derrick as practically independent units and so sepservices of aplurality of men, and it is well known in this art that the lost timeand lost motion and vconstant attention necessary to keep the rig inproperrunning shape and the number of operations required have beenmaterial .factors in the high cost of oil welldrilling.

These it is theobject of the present invention to avoid by assemblingthe drill, sand, and casing line drums or reels in a single unitarystructure and to provide'im proved driving and which latter isarrangedso that it can be Y operated by the operator who controls theengine. r

To this end the invention comprises the novel features of constructionand arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described andparticularlydefined by the appended claims.

' An embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which Figiu'e 1 is a diagrammatic'view of der-' rick andengine platforms providedwith my equipment. i

Fig. 2 is a assembly.

Fig. 3 is a view of the right hand end (Fig. 2) with the gears shownonly in dotted lines for clearness of illustration. 7

Fig. 4 is a similar View of the opposite end. r 7

Figs. 5 to 13 inclusive are views of details.

Referring by reference characters to these drawings, the numeral 1designates the drill line reel, 2

control ,mechanism front elevation of the drum gear engaging the sandline reel, and 3 the. casing line reel, the functions of which areApplication filed. December 7, 1921.. Serial No. 520,640.

wellunderstood by those skilled in the art.

The reel 1 is fast on a shaft 1 journaled in ings and the bearing at oneend of each shaft is supported by an adjusting screw P as shown indetail in Fig. 9 so that said end can be raised or lowered to cause theline or cable to properly wind on the reel.

' The shaft of reel 1 carries at. its right hand'end (Fig. 2) a brakedrum 1 and the outer ends of the shafts 2 and 3 are. provided withsimilar brake d1 :ums 2 and 3 with which brake shoes cooperate in' themanner hereinafter described.

The reels 1 and 2 are'preferably provided with the customary movablepartitions 1 and 2 to accommodate the active and surplusportions of thelines orv cables as the operation proceeds.

Power is imparted to the several drums by a main drive shaft 6 which isdriven by means of bevel gears 6 6 from shaft 7 (Fig. 1) which carriesthe crank which operates the walking beam (not shown). Shaft 6 carries agear. or spur wheel 8 (Figs.

2 and 3) which meshes with a gear 9. fast on casing reel shaft 3 andmeans are provided by which said gear connection may be made active orinactive at'will. Such means may, as shown, consist in having the gear 8splined on shaft 6 and providing a gear shift lever 10 having a forkengaging an at will. It will be understood that normally the clutch isin position and thecasing line reel 3 is controlled wholly by theengine, to wit, by the engine throttle a'nd reverse.

I provide means whereby the reels 1 and 2 may be driven from shaft 6 atwill at varying speeds, and such means preferably comprises amulti-grooved cone wheel 11 fast on shaft 6 which is in alignment withbut spaced from. two reversely arranged multigrooved cone wheels 12 and13 fast respecare :supportechand operated in a similar .manner aspecific description of one will .suflice for both.

i/Vheel 14 for example,- is journaled between b-racket arms .16 (Figs. 7and :8) of a. member 16 slidably mounted on guide rods or-barsl'l'(Figs. 4 andall) of aframe'l7 which is-pivotally supported from a rod ormembeltl 8 carried by the main frame. The free portion of frame 17 orthat part carrying the guides is normally drawn towards the verticalplane passing through shaft 6 by a spring 19, so that wheel or clutchdisc '14 for example, will have its wedge shaped periphery forced intothe aligning grooves of wheelsll and 12, so that wheel 12 and hencereelll, will be driven from shaft 6. As. the periphery of the wheel isof narrow wedge shape in cross sec t'ion and the grooves aetion isnecessary to secure thenecessary driving friction owing to the wedgingaction. Preferably the apex of. the wedge is arranged so as not to.touch the bottom of the coacting. groove. Means areprovided.forinovingthe idle wheel or disc in the opposite direction to stop the drive, andwhen disc 14 has been moved .clear of the multisgrooved pulleys itscarrier member maybexslid' along the guides 17 tobring. it intoalignment with othenggrooves, it being understood: that the guides are-parallel with the adjacent porftionscfftheperipheries of the respectivemultiegrooved pulleys or wheels. v

.The middle grooves-are for normal speed and the sidegrooves for higherand lower .speeds. In practicethe friction-wheels are.preferablyenclosed in a suitable cover or casing. to protect themfromwater as indicated i'n dotted lines, in1Fig.11.

Toleffect the shiftof the carrier member I provide a. hand: lever20,(Figs. 2 and 11) fulcrumed on a bracket '21 carried by the main frameand slidably engaging an :open in}; in the/carrier member.

To withdraw the idle or clutch wheels to stop the d-rive I provide rockshafts 22 and 23' 4) which earryarms 22: and 23 which-are connected byslotted links (giving a lost motion connection) with the earlier frames."These rock shafts are-coir neeted by suitablelevera-rm and rod conneetie'ns 24 24F,- 24 Figs. 1 and13) a1? ranged nnderneath the 'fioorwith control of corresponding shape no very heavy spring.

. grooves,

levers and 25 having suitable hand. coir -sired 'positiom -such controllevers being lo cated adjacent the engine reverse lever 25 andall"beingconveniently located on a horizontalbeam 26 extending betweenand supported by tl'ie"hea'd ache post and Samson post.

When a clutch dise is thrown out to stop the drive it is essentialthat abrake should be applied to hold the corresponding reel stationary. Tothis endI provide the rock shafts 22 and '23 with arms 22 and 23* whichare connected by rods 26 and 27 with pairs of toggle links 28, whichlinks are in turn connected to levers 29 and 30' operating brake shoes31 and 32 cooperating respectively with the brake drums l and 2hereinbefore referred to.-

A rock shaft 38 through similar connec tions operates the brake shoes 34which 7coinvention,

.inultigrooved cone wheels fast on said shafts having Vsshaped grooves,a driving shaft journaled between-said reel shafts and carryiiig asimilar revers'ely placed cone wheel, swinging frames pivoted to themain frame and having guides parallel to the uxta- .posed portions ofsaid cone wheels, slides carried by said guides with means for operatingthem, idle wheels rotatably carried by said slides-and havingwedge'shaped peripheries, means for adjustingthe slides to align theidle'wheels with different and means for swinging said frames.

2. In combination a main frame, a pair of reel carrying shaftsj-ournaled therein, multigrooved cone wheels fast on said shafts havingV-shaped grooves a driving shaft j-ournaled between said reel shafts andcarrying a similar reverselyplaced cone wheel, swinging frames pivotedtothe main frame and'having guides parallel to the juxtaposed portions :ofsaid cone wheels, slides carried by said guides with -means foroperating them, idle wheels rotatably carried by said slides and havingwedge shapedperipheries,means for adjusting the 'slides' to align theidle wheels with differ n g oo e and means for swi ging said frames,brake mechanism for said drums, and means for operating them in unisonwith said frames.

3. In combination a main frame, a pair of reel carrying shafts journaledtherein, multigrooved cone wheels fast on said shafts having V-shapedgrooves, a driving shaft journaled between said reel shafts and carryinga similar reversely placed cone wheel, swinging frames pivotedto themain frame and having guides parallel to the juxtaposed portions of saidcone wheels, slides carried by said guides with means for operatingthem, idle wheels rotatably carried by said slides and having wedgeshapedperipheries, means for adjusting the slides to align the idlewheels with difierent grooves, rock shafts having lost motion conmotionswith said swinging frames, brake drums on said reel shafts, brake shoescooperating with said drums, toggle joints for operating said brakeshoes, and operating connections between said toggle joints and saidrock shafts.

4. In combination a main frame, a pair of reel carrying shafts journaledtherein,

multigrooved cone wheels fast on said shafts having V-shaped grooves, adriving shaft journaled between said reel shafts and carrying a similarreversely placed cone wheel, swinging frames pivoted to the main frameand having guides parallel to the juxtaposed portion of said conewheels, slides carried by said guides with means for operating them,idle wheels rotatably carried by said slides and having wedge shapedperipheries, means for adjusting the slides to align the idle wheelswith different grooves, springs exerting pressure on said frames, rock'shafts having lost motion operating connections to said frames, brakedrums on said reel shafts, brake shoes cooperating with said drums,toggle joints for operating said brake shoes having operatingconnections to said rock shafts, and spring means tending to rotate saidrock shafts.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature. a

JIAMES D. GIBBS.

Witnesses: I

- C. WVJEAKEN, 'L. W. WELLER.

